EXPOSING HYPOCRISY

In 1949, at the age of 19, my dad had saved up enough money from his work at Pontiac Motors to make a down-payment on a 120 acre farm in Lapeer, Michigan. His intention was to provide a permanent home for his mother, because they had moved from one property to another as renters his entire life. When they closed on the land-contract my dad made sure to have his name, his mother’s name and his dad’s name all on the contract. That way my grandfather, who was a bit of a “horse-trader” could not sell the farm out under neath them.

Many years later, probably back in the mid-1990’s, I was out on my grandmother’s farm hunting on opening day of deer season. I had scouted the area out a few weeks prior and knew just where I wanted to set up. I arrived before day light and found my spot, and tried to quietly wait for it to become daylight. As the day began to dawn I heard a noise and looked behind me to find another hunter approaching me with his shotgun pointing right at me, as if he intended to use it. He asked me who gave me permission to be on this private property. Then he told me his name, which I have long forgotten, and informed me that he had been given exclusive permission to hunt here, and that he was in charge of policing the property. I asked who had given him this permission, and listed my uncle as his source of authority. I then informed him that he may have received permission to hunt, but I was a family member, whose named was listed on my grandmother's trust as to be an inheritor of her estate should my dad pass before she did. And my claim out-ranked his.

Many years ago, probably back in the mid-1990’s, I was out on my grandmother’s farm hunting on opening day of deer season. I had scouted the area out a few weeks prior and knew just where I wanted to set up. I arrived before day light and found my spot, and tried to quietly wait for it to become daylight. As the day began to dawn I heard a noise and looked behind me to find another hunter approaching me with his shotgun pointing right at me, as if he intended to use it. He asked me who gave me permission to be on this private property. Then he told me his name, which I have long forgotten, and informed me that he had been given exclusive permission to hunt here, and that he in charge of policing the property. I asked who had given him this permission, and listed y uncle as his source of authority. I then informed him that he may have received permission to hunt, but I was a family member, whose named was listed on my grandmother's trust as to be an inheritor of her estate should my dad pass before she did. And my claim out-ranked his.

Nevertheless, since was holding a loaded shotgun, pointed at me, I did concede and vacated. However, after my dad heard about this, he became livid with anger (which was so out of character for him), and that person, who held a gun on the owner’s son, was never allowed on our property again!

The source of one’s authority is an intriguing study. The man I had an encounter with thought that he had some sort of authority based on a casual conversation with my uncle. That authority had strong limitations, however.

There is a form of authority that comes from rank or position. A CEO of a large business is in a position of power and authority. A CFO of the same business would have a different position of authority. And yet it is still authority. I would consider these to be derived authority. But there is a different type of authority that comes by virtue of birth. And birthright authority usually trumps derived authority.

Throughout the Gospel of Matthew the apostle established that Jesus had was an authoritative figure. Matthew’s genealogy demonstrates that Jesus’ authority was a birthright. What’s more, He was the authoritative teacher of His day. He established His authority over disease, over the elements of nature, and over the spirit-world. At the conclusion of Matthew’s account we read that all authority on heaven and on earth had been given to Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of God.

Yet the religious leadership of Israel had the gall to question His authority. And that is exactly what we find them doing in our text for today, Matthew 21:23-32.

As I mentioned last week, the events that occur in all happened on one very, very long day. The day began with Jesus journeying from Bethany to Jerusalem with His disciples in tow. On the way they encountered the fig tree which Jesus had cursed the previous day, and a teaching moment arose regarding faith, prayer, and service. Then, as we will look at this morning, Jesus was confronted by the priests and elders in the temple while He was teaching those who would listen to Him. I’m very curious as to just what He taught them, but states

Matthew 21:20–25:46 NASB95PARA

Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet.” And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him. “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” They said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone; This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes’? “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet. Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.” ’ “But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said. And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any. Tell us then, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” And hearing this, they were amazed, and leaving Him, they went away. On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him, asking, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up children for his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers with us; and the first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother; so also the second, and the third, down to the seventh. Last of all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.” But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching. But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet” ’? “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question. Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? “Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ” Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.” As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. “Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour. “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. “Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ “Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ “And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’ “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Luke 20:1 NASB95PARA

On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him,

They questioned Him about His authority. Then Jesus went on to tell these religious leaders of Israel three consecutive parables in which they were soundly rebuked for their false leadership. Then various groups tried to trap Jesus by asking Him question after question. Following these feeble attempts at entrapment Jesus blasted the hypocritical leaders with a series of eight woes. The recorded events of this day ended with Jesus delivering what is known as the Olivet Discourse to the apostles, in which He taught them about end times.

This morning’s passage is about authority, unbelief, and hypocrisy. As we journey through this passage we will look at the challenge by the religious leadership, the counter-challenge by Jesus, the hypocritical response by the leadership, the holy response by Jesus, and the parable that ensues.

What I want you to see is that by the use of a question which called for either a denial, an affirmation, or a plea of ignorance, coupled with a pointed parable, Jesus was able to expose the hypocrisy of the religious leadership of Israel.

Let’s read our text together.

Let’s look first at

The Challenge (vs. 23)

What authority did these priests and elders question? Most likely, from the context, they quesitoned His authority regarding three distinct things:

The Counter-Challenge (vs. 24)

His authority to cleanse the temple

His authority to heal the blind and the lame

His authority to teach in the temple

D. A. Carson noted:

“Their concern in asking who gave him this authority (cf. ) sprang less from a desire to identify him than from a desire to stifle and perhaps ensnare him.”

It seems that they were trying to coerce Jesus to blaspheme by stating, as He had on other occasions, that His authority was His birthright as the Son of God. Of course we understand that in saying this Jesus would not be guilty of blasphemy because it was, in fact, true. But these pathetic leaders did not believe His claims. And so, in their minds it would be blasphemy.

As a side note, to believe or not believe something does not in itself make it true or false. There was once a young preacher who was known for saying: “God said it, and I believe, and that settles it!” But an older preacher noted: “God said it, and that settles it, whether I believe it or not!” The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not founded on our faith. But our faith should be founded on the Gospel! It is the grace of God which brings salvation. And a believer’s faith is the channel through which salvation comes.

Let’s look at Christ’s reply as we consider

The Counter-Challenge (vs. 24)

It is really futile to try and trap the omniscient God. Jesus knew exactly what these men were trying to do. And instead of giving them a direct answer He answered their question with a question. The question which Jesus asked was not a simple question for them to answer. It was a question which forced them to either give a denial, give an affirmation, or give a plea of ignorance. Let’s look at the question and see which way they responded. Look at verse 24-25.

These dudes understood that Jesus had turned the tables on them. If they answered the question, either as a denial or in the affirmative they would be in trouble. If they affirmed that John’s ministry was authorized by God, then Jesus would rebuke them for their lack of faith in John’s message. If, on the other hand they denied God’s hand in the ministry of John then the people were likely to revolt for they had a very high opinion of John.

Let’s consider their

The Hypocritical Response (vs. 25-27a)

The Executive Session

When I read about these men reasoning among themselves it reminds me of what is often call an executive session. I was involved in one such session back in March as a part of the MARBC Council of 16 meeting. We needed to discuss some things without the presence of our executive director. It was an enlightening session to say the least.

The council of these men reminds me of a statement given during a prayer meeting that was held after Peter and John had been threatened for preaching in the name of Jesus.

Acts 4:23–26 NASB95PARA

When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, “O Lord, it is You who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, And the peoples devise futile things? ‘The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against His Christ.’

These men took counsel together to try and decide how best to reply to Jesus’ answer. They had three choices: they could affirm that John was sent by God, they could deny that John was sent by God, or they could plead ignorance.

Let’s consider

Their Pronouncement

They chose to plead ignorance. Basically their response was an agnostic response. They did not respond either as believers or as atheists. Quite frankly they were dishonest in their response. They thought they knew that correct answer, which was actually an incorrect answer. They thought John’s ministry was from man and not from God. But because they were afraid of their constituency rising up in protest against them, they would not state what they truly believed.

My high school band director used to tell us: “It is better to make a mistake loudly, than to make one softly.” Of course this applied to rehearsal, and not performance. But the point is that if a mistake was made loudly in rehearsal than he was more likely to catch it and able to help correct it.

For these men it would have been better to take a stand — even if it was wrong — than not to take a stand at all. Of course both bring about the same result in this case.

There are a lot of agnostics out there. Most are because they are not willing to take a stand one way or another regarding Christ. It may be because they are unwilling to take the time to study things out for themselves. Or it may be that they are truly confused and too embarrassed to ask for help. Regardless of the reason, there is no eternal reward for either an agnostic or for an atheist.

Let’s consider

The Holy Response (vs. 27b)

Simply put, Christ refused to state where His authority was from. He gave them an opportunity to answer His question. If they had even answered the question wrongly, Christ would have answered their challenge. But instead they wimped out!

Though Christ did not answer their question directly, He went on to tell a story that pretty much answered their original question. Let’s consider

The Parable (vs. 28-32)

There is a sense in which Jesus used this divine story in order to trap these men who had come to Him with a challenge. Craig Blomberg points out the following:

“The three points of the passage, one per character, may thus be summed up as follows: ‘Like the father sending his sons to work, God commands all people to carry out his will. Like the son who ultimately disobeyed, some promise but do not perform rightly and so are rejected by God. Like the son who ultimately obeyed, some rebel but later submit and so are accepted.’”

After telling this parable Jesus asked His opponents which of the two did the will of his father? And they rightly responded that it was the first son. Their correct response opened the door for a tremendous rebuke from Christ.

When Jesus stated that tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you, He was not saying that His opponents would eventually get in. No one who rejects Jesus can enter into His kingdom. Notice how Jesus explains His provocative statement in verse 32.

Simply put, the tax collectors and prostitutes believed the gospel. They acknowledged their sin against God, they repented of it in faith, believing the message that John, and Christ preached to them. They embraced the gospel message. But the religious leadership of Israel acknowledged no such thing.

The other day, as part of my daily devotions I was reading in . This passage was written regarding Israel’s celebration of the first anniversary of the original Passover. The LORD had instructed Moses previously that no one who was unclean was allowed to partake in the Passover celebrations. Well, as they prepared to celebrate some men approached Moses with a dilemma; they had come into contact with a dead body and so they were ceremonially unclean and unable to participate. They thought it unfair that they couldn’t celebrate the Passover. So Moses asked them to wait while he consulted with the LORD. The LORD’S determination was that if a person was unclean during the celebration of the Passover, which occured on the 14th day of the first month of the year, or if they were traveling out of the country at that time, then they could celebrate the Passover on the 14th day of the second month of the year.

However, He did not make any allowance for those who simply chose not to celebrate. .

Numbers 9:13 CSB

“But the man who is ceremonially clean, is not on a journey, and yet fails to observe the Passover is to be cut off from his people, because he did not present the Lord’s offering at its appointed time. That man will bear the consequences of his sin.

Numbers 9:13 NASB95PARA

But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, and yet neglects to observe the Passover, that person shall then be cut off from his people, for he did not present the offering of the Lord at its appointed time. That man will bear his sin.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day, who were preparing for the Passover celebration willingly chose not to embrace the true Passover Lamb. And this brought its own sentence of capital punishment. Not an earthly punishment, but a heavenly one.

What these men should have done was to confess their sin of indifference to the gospel, which is a grave sin indeed. They should have repented of their sin, and embrace Jesus Christ as the true Passover Lamb. But they did not.

Numbers 9:13 NASB95PARA

But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, and yet neglects to observe the Passover, that person shall then be cut off from his people, for he did not present the offering of the Lord at its appointed time. That man will bear his sin.

There may be some here who are also indifferent to the message of the gospel. If that is the case then you need to repent and believe the gospel.

Saul of Tarsus was a hypocrite until he was encountered by Christ with his hypocrisy. Unlike the chief priests and elders of Israel who had challenged Jesus about His authority, Saul saw himself for the hypocrite that he had become, he embraced the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and was wondrously saved. A fact for which all of Christendom should be grateful. For Saul became Paul and was used by Christ to spread the gospel as no one had done before. Not only that, but he was used to write almost half of the NT, in which he explained the gospel and its ramifications for believers to follow.

The sad truth about hypocrisy is that it is not limited to unbelievers. Christians can be, and often are, hypocrites themselves. Fortunately, our hypocrisy does not bring eternal separation from God. But it can be used by Satan to keep others from embracing the gospel. As Christians, we need to constantly, and diligently examine our own actions and attitudes to discern if we are acting as a hypocrite. If we determine that we are then we need to confess that sin to God, and ask for His help in changing our ways.

In the parable we just looked at, doing the father’s will is equated with salvation. The Father’s will is to repent and believe the gospel.

But I also see something for believers as well. A command to go and work in our Father’s vineyard. The fields are white unto harvest, but the laborers are few. Will you willing work in the harvest for our Lord?

Let’s pray.

Closing Song: # 304 Behold the Lamb